AT THE ZOO from A to Z

Big excitement here.  We went to the zoo.  “FIELD TRIP!  FIELD TRIP!“ Charlie chanted, inappropriately. It was my first time on the city bus, albeit with a minder, and my first time wearing my safari-ish hat.  Cristy, who is our fitness person, event planner, and my minder, asked me to write captions for the way-too-many pictures she was bound to take.  I said I would make up an alphabet of the zoo trip, and she could decide what pictures to put with what letters. She agreed and also agreed to the 17 syllables of haiku – I think to control my rambling. 

  ZOO TRIP ALPHABET  in haiku [with personal asides in italics]   

 A is for ANTELOPES, pictured, not grazing with zebras, giraffes, and?                     First “lettered” animal I did not see.                                                                                                B is for BARNS with tall doors for proud giraffes or raised cherry-pickers.                         I think.  Nothing actually happened.  Handsome structure, though.                                      B is for BUS RIDES – – easy and fun, if curb cuts and sidewalks are near.                    And no fentanyl fumes! First trip [so to speak] on a city bus.

C is for CIRCLES, with confused multitaskers coming and going.

D is for DIETING, which the TAPIR and RHINOS might want to try. 

E is for EATING which many were,  bending over, displaying rumps.   

Maine has blueberries, Washington has cherries,  grown “closer to the moon.” 

F is for FENCES – many, mostly hidden, but comfortingly real.  

G is for GAZELLE, antelope kin, big toothpick horns, and third grazer.   .  

G is for GIRAFFE, nibbling high leaves, and leaving low leaves  for shorties.

H is for  HALLELUJAH DAYS with questions raised and fresh air basked in.

H is for HIDING animals, which I would be, too, if I lived here.

I is for IBEX: long curved horns, antelope kin, not third grazer, ARGHH!. .                  Second “lettered” animal I did not see.                                                                                         J is for JUNGLE foliage, which was claustrophobia-inducing.                                              I am a prairie person, breathing best with a big sky.                                                                K is for KIDS, many, energetic, noisy, and oblivious.

L is for LOST, which we only once were.  Tough herding oldies and cats.                         Too many viewng  circles with people-hiding foliage, off the black-topped path.              M is for the MANY OF US who had a very good time.  Yay day!                        

N is for NONSENSE: questions and comments that make everything more fun.

O is for OBSERVERS: we oldies-but-goodies, and kids, lots of k ids.                               And mothers with space-eating strollers, talking over my head.                                             O is for ORANGUTANS, who live, play and wear a blue shirt in trees. 

P is for PYTHON, thankfully in fogged-up cage, so I couldn’t see.                                 Third “lettered” animal I did not see.                                                                                              Q is for QUESTIONS with few answers that made the ZOO such a treat.

R is for RAILINGS with see-through cutouts at chair height.  Enlightened design

R is for RHINOCEROS,  like submerged rocks in the waterhole.

S is for the “SCREW” TREE.  Is it topiary art or Mother Nature’s sense of humor?  . 

Look way-back and see Screw tree; look up-front and see new safari-ish hat.

S is for SIAMANGS, “howlers,” in trees, black-furred, lesser apes, unseen.              Fourth “lettered” animal I did not see.                                                                                             T is for TAPIR, a giant, fuzzy, pillow against viewer glass.

U is for UNDERGROWTH, dense, but not intrusive. I like sunlit space.                           [See “J” and “L” above.]                  

V is for pretty good VIEWING, better when it’s lower for chaired-folks.      

W is for Googled WARTHOG, with  hoggy rump and canine teeth-tusks.                     [“W” herein is two syllables. Think “Dubya” and remember George W. Bush.]                   The closest pictured animal was an anteater, which I did not see.                                          X marks the mapped meeting spots that we MOSTLY reached.  

Y is for YOU because you’re special and because the ZOO has no YAKS.                  

Z is for ZEBRAS with same-striped fannies  How do not-moms know who’s who?

Hooray for field trips!                                                                                                                             I have trouble even thinking about caged animals, but the sculptures were great.  My favorite was the resting rhinoceros, which looked like a handsome, smooth, bumped, big rock,  almost lost in its surroundings.  Unphotographed.  Sigh.                                           Bring on the arboretum!